Lesson 119: Sicario: Day of the Soldado

The Filmlosophers, Eddie Villanueva, Chad Riley and Spencer Williams, try to come alive inside again after this week’s viewing of Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018). Brutal and emotionally taxing, the sequel to Sicario (2015) sees the return of Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro as two members of a government-supported black ops group that is sent to tangle with the Mexican cartels and initiate a gang war to stop terrorists from entering the United States through the border with Mexico.

Directed by Stefano Sollima, the film also stars Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Catherine Keener. Fans of the Denis Villeneuve-directed original will find several parallels in terms of tonality, themes, visuals and sound editing. Whether or not that makes the sequel as memorable as its predecessor is worth questioning.

The Filmlosophers, Eddie Villanueva, Chad Riley and Spencer Williams, scramble to find weapons in every corner with this week’s review of John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum (2019). The adrenaline-fueled “gun fu” action flick closes out the first trilogy of Chad...

With Eddie out of the office for a week, Filmlosophers Spencer Williams and Chad Riley do a bit of a duet with this week's review of Detective Pikachu (2019). Starring Ryan Reynold, Justice Smith, Bill Nighy and a whole host of Pokemon characters who've made the...